Lice help for DCM

[BumbleBee]

Monday I got the call that 2 dck's (siblings) have lice. They were treated as well as a 3rd sibling who didn't have any signs of lice or nits but was treated as a precaution. Sibling 4 had his head shaved and sibling 5 is a newborn who has no hair.

Treatments have been over the counter treatment, olive oil and tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar. Nit picking daily.

Cleaning:

Vacuum daily

All pillows, stuffed animals etc. have been bagged and put in the basement.

Bedding is stripped and washed daily, outfits are changed 3x daily and immediately washed. Towels and washcloths are used once and then washed.

Carseats and vehicles are vacuumed daily

Hair clips are used once and boiled before reuse, hair ties are tossed after each use.

Combs are boiled after each use, each kid has their own nit comb

DCM is frustrated because she's still finding lice/nits in all 3 dcg's.

Thursday she took them to the Dr for a head check and was given the all clear, even has the dr's note that says lice and nit free. She did a treatment Thursday night as a precaution and found 6 dead lice in 1 child's hair, 6 nits in another child's hair.

Today (Saturday) she did an apple cider vinegar treatment on the 3 dcg's and found 5 dead lice in 1 child's hair, 2 in another child's hair and 1 in the last child's hair.

Dcm has done all treatments on herself as well and had her husband use the nit comb on her each time, she has been in the clear.

She asked me what she's missing. I have no idea. I thought I'd put it here to see if you guys have any ideas.

[lovemykidstoo]

Wow seems like she's doing everything right. The original lice child here the doctor told her to do a Cetaphil treatment. Cetaphil is a body or face liquid soap. You put it on dry hair, comb it through and then blow dry it until it's completely, 100% dry. leave it on for 24 hours and then rinse it out with warm water. Supposed to smother anything live. When we found the lice in her here, Me, my husband and 2 teenage kids did the NIX treatment. All of my daycare kids did either that, the Cetaphil or put olive oil in their hair and wrapped it with a plastic bag for 6 hours to smother. The only 1 daycare child that didn't do anything, also got it, so I know 1 of those 3 things worked.

[Mike]

Any of the kids going to school? Maybe another kid in school is keeping it going. Do they have any pets? Could be hiding out there.

[BumbleBee]

Any of the kids going to school? Maybe another kid in school is keeping it going. Do they have any pets? Could be hiding out there.

The only one who goes to school has been out since last Friday. The teacher said nobody has lice in her class. Nobody has it here at daycare and the kids haven't been here all week. The only place any of the kids have been was the Dr on Thursday, otherwise they've been home. No pets in their house.

[childcaremom]

My dd had lice this past fall.

I tried home remedies and lots of brushing.
I cleaned like crazy.

Then we went to a professional. She treated us. Combed us. And gave great advice. (a lot of the cleaning and worry is unfounded) A lot of money but WORTH it.

We came home and combed every other day.

Went back in a week for a check and were clear.

The key is using the nit comb. Check amazon. They have them. You need the special comb to do this. And to go in all 4 directions so you get all the nits, no matter where they attach on the hair shaft. And you have to start right at the scalp.

So pull hair back in a ponytail and comb.
Pull hair to one side and comb.
Pull hair to other side and comb.
Pull hair forward and comb.

We thoroughly wet hair and then used a generous amount of conditioner so that the comb would pass through easily. Then combed. It was about 30-45 mins each time we did it but worth it because it worked.

I washed their bedding each morning and jackets, hats, etc. Vacuumed thoroughly, wiped down surfaces, etc but was told this is not absolutely necessary as live lice can't live for more than 2 hours without food.

Not that I would ever want to do this again but I feel confident in handling it again and am over the ick factor..... mostly.

[Josiegirl]

I'd tell her to just keep doing what she's doing and soon she'll be all clear. When my dd got them, it took 6 weeks of nit-picking every single night. I did everything else too but this, I swear, was the one thing that actually got rid of them.
What about backpacks or headphones? We bagged those too.
I know another dcm who fought them for 6 weeks also, her dd was in school by then.

[e.j.]

I'd tell her to just keep doing what she's doing and soon she'll be all clear. When my dd got them, it took 6 weeks of nit-picking every single night. I did everything else too but this, I swear, was the one thing that actually got rid of them.
What about backpacks or headphones? We bagged those too.
I know another dcm who fought them for 6 weeks also, her dd was in school by then.

We did everything we could think of, too - vacuuming, cleaning, bagging things up, lice treatments and nightly combing, etc - and it took weeks to get rid of them completely. It's very frustrating but the combing does work eventually.

[BumbleBee]

down to 1 nit happyfacehappyfacehappyface

[daycarediva]

tea tree oil in the shampoo! Works great as a preventative, too!

Sometimes they can get in the couch, mattresses, carpets.

[TigerLily]

We used the cetaphil on my niece and it worked. I've also heard really good things about this stuff

http://m.licehelp.com

[Unregistered]

We struggled with lice for many months. I hated every minute of it. I tried to treat at home but ended up at one of those lice places and like the above poster said they gave great advice!!!

Unfortunately lice are attracted to someone who has had it before so one of my girls got it again. I didn't want to put out the huge money to get the pros to do it so I got the terminator lice comb. I can't stress this enough........ she needs not the comb you get with the kits but the special metal ones they sell on amazon. I think with shipping I paid 10 for mine. When I treated their hair I used the cheapest regular fat mayo that I could find and combed it in their hair. I went strand by strand like they did at the pros did. After the comb through I put her hair in a bun and put a bag on it for a few hours. The mayo helped not only to suffocate them but also helps release the glue on the hair left by the lice (nits). Then I have them clean their hair and spray some apple cider vinegar and comb it out again. I repeat this process every other day for a week. Then go to once a week for a month. Then a check once a week of everyone 😳

[Leigh]

I wouldn't allow the child back until there were two treatments with an actual pediculicide. Spinosad or topical ivermectin are available by prescription, and what I would recommend they use. There are outbreaks of "super lice" all over that won't respond to anything else.

[hwichlaz]

OTCs like Rid and Nix just do not work.

20 years ago Nix wasn't working anymore. They've become immune.

My daughter, 20 years ago, had lice. I put Nix on her because it came in a cream rinse and was supposed to be more gentle to the hair. She was 18 months old with super fine whispy baby hair. After the prescribed time I checked her head...and the lice were alive and swimming in the nix.

Rid works to kill live bugs, but does not kill nits. Vinegar is awesome for dissolving the glue that holds the nits on and making them easier to comb out.

[knoxmomof2]

I had a dcg3 that struggled with lice. They tried the conventional products, thorough comb-outs but still struggled for months. Then, the Grandmother saw "Little Bugs" (it's a pesticide free treatment) at the salon she was at. They were willing to try anything at that point, it worked the first time! No issues since. She was an only child and the parents checked each other and were clear, only came here for child care, all other dck and my family were clear. There was no known source, they just couldn't kick it until they used that stuff. I will always recommend it first.

[LysesKids]

I had a dcg3 that struggled with lice. They tried the conventional products, thorough comb-outs but still struggled for months. Then, the Grandmother saw "Little Bugs" (it's a pesticide free treatment) at the salon she was at. They were willing to try anything at that point, it worked the first time! No issues since. She was an only child and the parents checked each other and were clear, only came here for child care, all other dck and my family were clear. There was no known source, they just couldn't kick it until they used that stuff. I will always recommend it first.

I just discovered it's sold thru Target... woo hoo. A little spendy but worth it if it works